Congressional Chess

Big drama on Capitol Hill where we're waiting on details from Congress about how they'll tackle spending measures to keep the government funded. The deadline is December 11th. It looks like most programs will get funded through the new year except for Homeland Security which funds immigration matters. The GOP apparently wants to punish President Obama for his Executive Orders on immigration, and will withhold funds until they have majorities in the House and Senate next year.

Meantime, Democrats appear not very interested in a House plan to extend tax cuts that would affect one in every six taxpayers. There's a House plan, but it's unclear if the Senate will sign off.

The House also expected to pass a bill to help Americans with disabilities.

Some relief today for drought stricken California.. the problem is too much rain and snow too fast. CA is in its fourth year of drought and today's rains are expected to bring flooding and mudslides to some areas .. especially in Southern California. William La Jeunesse, Maria Molina, and Rick Reichmuth reporting.

President Obama making remarks today at 11:15 ET at a business roundtable at the White House and will take a Q&A.

We get reports on productivity today, and ADP releases its employment numbers for November. Yesterday the Dow closed at another record high. The price of oil fell again.. that's good news for consumers.

The President speaks later today to the White House Tribal Nations Conference. He's also today expected to unveil a program to help the lives of young Native Americans. More than a third of young Native Americans live in poverty. Some of President Obama's staff also will visit U.S. reservations next year.

An American school teacher was stabbed to death in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

An Iraqi official is telling the AP that a woman arrested in Lebanon is NOT the wife of terror leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. She may be the sister of another high profile terrorist.

Iran has apparently started air strikes against ISIS in Iraq.

There's a huge gathering in Belgium of the coalition against ISIS which now includes 60 countries. Secretary of State John Kerry among the leaders there discussing strategy for defeating ISIS.

There's hearings on the Hill today on the huge recall of airbags by Takata.